Let me perjure myself

...by doing one more grey-area post. ;-p

Thanks, Jean!!! This one's for you!

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Thought from a union sticker on a taxi.

United we bargain, divided we beg.

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I think I'm turning Chinese...

Delayed post from 11/04: Struck down by a fever, I decided to forego the usual approach of staying in bed all day. I took a walk to sweat the fever out. 10 minutes into my journey to wellness, I stopped at a neighborhood Chinese restaurant (Pat Mei Tea House on Carnival Park) and was delighted to find that that they had that classic pinnacle of Chinese comfort food: maki!

I decided to try their maki mi, basically maki with noodles, instead of just maki. It was a decision that I came to regret. The mami-type noodles that they added to the rich, viscuous soup did not add the 20 pesos of marginal utility that I paid for. (If the add-on sounds cheap, consider that the soup alone only went for 80 pesos. 25% is big by any standards.)

The maki soup itself was nowhere near the league of that heavenly maki that I had in Binondo on my Chinatown-tour-turned-walking-buffet. (There's a reason why people go to Chinatown to eat.) The soup was a bit too thin for my taste, and I'm pretty sure they used more soy or fish sauce then they ought to.

All things considered (including my weakened condition), the maki really hit the spot. At the very least, it saved me from the sudden downpour that would have soaked me had my ginormous measure of flesh not been too weak to resist the call of intriguing food.


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[roncastry.com] [theGullBlodder] Hopelessly Devoted To You

I have just published 'Hopelessly Devoted To You' at theGullBlodder. Preview:
-----------------------------------
There are days when I wish that breathless singing didn't go out of style. :-)
Go Olivia!

(YouTube video after the break)
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Read the full post and leave comments at
http://blog.roncastry.com/2008/11/12/hopelessly-devoted-to-you/.

Read my other posts at http://blog.roncastry.com. Read a random post by going
to http://blog.roncastry.com/?random .


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Posted By Ron Castry to roncastry.com at 11/12/2008 05:29:00 PM

Extra touch

I just love it when restaurants and the like take the time to add that extra touch to make things perfect. Go Figaro!

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In case I forget to mention it

...I love WLH Trans.

I've been leaving Las Pinas at about lunch time for the past few days (check my blog to find out why). I've managed to catch a ride on this bus line for most of those days. The buses are new (yung tipong tinatawag ni Bonggo na bumblebus), the seats are comfortable, and they even have pretty decent TV's (I caught the end of Gladiator yesterday).

Maybe it's just the time of day, but the buses have never been SRO (standing room olredi). It got me thinking that I probably could stand to live in Cavite or Laguna and accept the 2-hour-plus commute if I could get a really tricked-out bus with coffee maker, wifi, a MacBook or built-in iMac, and comfy couches. And a drive attendant. Remind you of anything? Yeah, I think my fantasies of having a private jet are starting to go down-market.

Traveling in the nearly empty Florida buses must have really gotten under my skin. :-)

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Bob Ong

I thought I'd never ever ever post these Bob Ong things that have been circulating via email and multiply, but I was forwarded a set that had a couple with some real "kapow!!"

• 10. "Kung dalawa ang mahal mo, piliin mo yung pangalawa. Kasi hindi ka naman magmamahal ng iba kung mahal mo talaga yung una."  
  

• 11. "Hindi porke't madalas mong ka-chat, kausap sa telepono, kasama sa mga lakad o ka-text ng wantusawa eh may gusto sayo at magkakatuluyan kayo. Meron lang talagang mga taong sadyang friendly, sweet, flirt, malandi, pa-fall o paasa."
  

Yun lang. Hahaha

Beijing: Having to do without

Delayed post, originally written on 8/10:

The language barrier is such that if what you're asking for isn't all that important, you might just give up. People have a working knowledge of English, though not knowing the right terms might get you into a spot of bother. The term "working knowledge" might be too generous in some cases, particularly with a couple of cab drivers and sales people we've encountered.

Beijing: First impressions

Delayed post, originally written on 8/10:

We're in a pretty nice district of Beijing, close to the Forbidden City and the Beijing Peninsula hotel. It's like being in one of the smaller streets parallel to Ayala Avenue, only the buildings on "Ayala" and "Ayala" itself seems grander. It's probably because of the boulevard-like main road with buildings set further back from the street, showing off their architecture. The Legendale Hotel in particular is amazing, reminding me of that European-looking large building off the northwest corner of the White House grounds.

There are a lot of small restos with in-table hotpots and outdoor grills, which I hope to try. This place feels like home, with shirtless tambays on the road, too.

still my fave airline

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Truncation OOB.

You know you've been around too long when decisions made years ago start coming back to haunt you.

It's worse when the decisions were yours.

No shortcuts.

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Stand aside, On My Own!

If you thought that "I love him... but only on my own" and the rest of that song were the most saksak-dibdiban sa pagkapathetic yet poetic lines about acceptedly—is that a word?—unrequited love, you were wrong! This is what takes the cake:

But the man I met. He is the love I've wanted to reach long before I knew that he existed. And I think he will remain beyond my reach. But that I love him will be enough to keep me living.

--- Dagny Taggart speaking of John Gault to Hank Rearden in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.

What say you? ;-)

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Mexicali's Shrimp Bisque

This was indubitably made of shrimp, the whole shrimp, and nothing but the shrimp. My first thought was, so this is what shrinp head pureé tastes like!

In spite of the uninspiring appearance—a lot of toilet-humor metaphors come to mind—the soup would appeal to a hard-core seafood lover. It does, however, require a flavored drink of some sort to allow one to recover from the overwhelming kapow it leaves in one's mouth.

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Time

Here I am in Glorietta, listening and standing idly by as my sister scrambles to capture Boys Like Girls' mall concert here in Glorietta. I've been half-listening to them for the past half-hour or so, but in spite of the rapt attention everyone else is caught up in (see photos), I have yet to recognize a single song.

So this is what listening exclusively an iPod does to you: it locks you into an endless loop of songs you like, but leaves you disconnected from the TV-watching and radio-listening public. The music sounds like something that I would at the very least recognize back in my pre-iPod days.

I think they sound too much like Simple Plan.

Why do I persist in categorizing the new in terms of the old? Am I reactionary? Or is this what they call "change management"? :-)

What kind of a name is Boys Like Girls, anyway? Ano sila, mga lalakin mahilig sa babae o mga lalaking parang babae?

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May Starbucks na sa SM Southmall!

Woohoo!

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If I were a believer in horoscopes...

today's would be taken as a sign:

Sometimes it's not enough to improve the environment around you. Sometimes you just have to move. Consider making a big change. All the upheaval is quickly over, but the benefits will last.

System Advisory

Over the next few days (or weeks, depending on how fast I can do this), I will be posting pictures from the great trip to the Beijing 2008 Olympics!  :-)

To avoid theft of the photos (yes, praning ako), I will be making the albums available only to my network or my contacts, depending on how paranoid I am about them.  If you typically try to view albums without logging on to Multiply, now's the time to start logging on. :-p

Enjoy!  As usual, comments are welcome!

Wake-up call

It's probably a bad thing when things like this start falling from your chair. Notice the gentle curve in an object that should be perfectly straight? :-(

Beijing Huanying Ni

From 8/10:

Is it so strange that my first meal in Beijing was an American breakfast? :-p

Walang Multiply sa Beijing!

I was going to post using Multiply, pero di natuloy. Oh well!

Let me try this mobile posting biz...

Inggit lang kay Papi, hahahaha!

I happened to be in our former office a couple of nights ago when I happened to pass by our old cube. Isn't it just so damn irritating when they kick you out of a place you like only to leave the area fallow??? (...except that leaving areas fallow is only sensible when you're talking about arable land. No, I don't have strong feelings about the matter. ;-p ).

Anyway, here are some artifacts left behimd in the drawers.

Oh and yes, that bottle of you-know-what is still there...and I'm not talking about the rugby. :-)

[roncastry.com] [theGullBlodder] I must be getting promoted thisyear.

I have just published 'I must be getting promoted this year.' at theGullBlodder.
Here it goes:

You will find the full post at
http://blog.roncastry.com/2008/08/02/i-must-be-getting-promoted-this-year/.
That would also be the best place for you to leave your comments, which would be
highly appreciated.

You can read my other posts on theGullBlodder at http://blog.roncastry.com.
Just go to http://blog.roncastry.com/?random to read a random post.


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Posted By Ron Castry to roncastry.com at 8/02/2008 05:33:00 AM

[roncastry.com] [theGullBlodder] Walking tour of Binondo

I have just published 'Walking tour of Binondo' at theGullBlodder. Here it
goes:

My walking tour of Binondo (www.oldmanilawalks.com) was less of a tour than a
walking buffet. I kid you not. The three-and-a-half hour long trip was well
worth the time and money spent since I got to see a side of Manila's Chinatown
that I could never appreciate from a drive-by glance: the culinary [...]

You will find the full post at
http://blog.roncastry.com/2008/07/13/walking-tour-of-binondo/.

That would also
be the best place for you to leave your comments, which would be highly
appreciated.

You can read my other posts on theGullBlodder at http://blog.roncastry.com.
Just go to http://blog.roncastry.com/?random to read a random post.


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Posted By Ron Castry to roncastry.com at 7/13/2008 03:32:00 AM

Architectural shots from Von & Verlaine's wedding

The right aisle of the Manila Cathedral

Von & Verlaine's Wedding

At long last! Apparently this has been a decade in the making. :-)

The ceremony was at the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception a.k.a. the Manila Cathedral. The reception was at the Manila Hotel.

As I took over 300 pics, expect me to post additional pictures as soon as they are processed. :-) Sensiya na, batch ako e!

Roadkill

Underexposed, but overexposed. Canvas-type billboards never photograph well.

Miscellaneous pictures I shot while on the road. I know I shouldn't do it, I know I'll always be disappointed with the quality, but I take them anyway!

Advance pics from Laguna (not the beach), April 2008

I think.

Photos were taken by RonCastry. All rights reserved.

Advance pics from Baguio 2008

The fact that the young ones are acting a little less tribally irritates me. :-)

Bonggo's behind the camera.

[roncastry.com] [theGullBlodder] Touching thin air

I have just published 'Touching thin air' at theGullBlodder. Here it goes:

...the MacBook Air, that is.

Whoa! The MacBook Air is now available at the Greenbelt 3 Power Mac Center for
something like 95 thousand pesos.

I should NOT have touched it.

Whoa.

Whoa.

Whoa.

Love it!

You will find the full post at
http://www.roncastry.com/2008/03/07/touching-thin-air/.

That would also be the
best place for you to leave your comments, which would be highly appreciated.

You can read my other posts on theGullBlodder at http://www.roncastry.com. Just
go to http://www.roncastry.com/?random to read a random post.


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Posted By Ron Castry to roncastry.com at 3/07/2008 10:16:00 PM